BLOOMFIELD HILLS — The Harvard Business School Club of Michigan has named Gordon E. Krater, managing partner of Plante Moran; and Sandra E. Pierce, vice chairman of FirstMerit Corp. and chairman and CEO of FirstMerit Michigan, as awardees of the club’s annual Business Leader of the Year award.
A dinner to honor Krater and Pierce will tbe held March 26 at the MSU Management Education Center in Troy.
“Both Sandy Pierce and Gordon Krater exemplify strong leaders who are able to direct growing and complex enterprises while creating and sustaining a culture of corporate citizenship that fosters community engagement for the betterment of the region,” said Board Chair Richard Shapack.
Krater became Plante Moran’s firm managing partner in 2009. He guided the firm through the recession with a solid growth trajectory that included a merger with Chicago-based Blackman Kallick in 2012, opening a Detroit office in 2013, and celebration of the firm’s 90th anniversary in 2014. Prior to becoming managing partner, Krater served as group managing partner in charge of industries, which included real estate & construction, financial institutions, health, human services and non-profits, public sector/governmental, manufacturing & distribution, retail dealers, and service companies.
Pierce began her career as a teller at National Bank of Detroit (now JPMorgan Chase) while attending Wayne State University. After nearly 30 years in commercial banking, retail banking and private client services, she joined Royal Bank of Scotland in 2005 to oversee its Midwest region subsidiary, Charter One. In 2012, Pierce joined FirstMerit when it acquired Citizens Republic Bank. In 2012 she was named among the top business women in metro Detroit by DBusiness magazine. Pierce serves on the boards of Penske Automotive Group and Barton Malow Co. Her civic commitments include chairing the board of trustees of Henry Ford Health System and the nine member Financial Advisory Board for the city of Detroit. Pierce graduated from Wayne State University, where she received both a Bachelor of business administration in marketing and a Master’s of Business Administration in finance.
Proceeds from the March 26 dinner will be used to fund scholarships to send Michigan non-profit leaders to the 2015 Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program, an intensive six-day course presented each July at the Harvard Business School in Boston. The scholarships are offered through a nomination/application process for candidates who exemplify dedication, commitment, and pursuit of excellence within the non-profit sector. The 2014 recipients of the SPNM scholarship were Daniel S. Carmody, president, Eastern Market; Hassan Jaber, executive director, ACCESS; Juanita Moore, president & CEO, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History; and Leah Rosenbaum, president & CEO, JVS.
Tickets begin at $150 and can be purchased online at hbsmi.org/store.html?event_id=258; For questions, please contact Amanda Schubeck at amanda.schubeck@gmail.com or 248-930-4614.
